In the modem domestic refrigerators it is common to provide an ice making assembly in the freezer compartment of the refrigerator. The ice making assembly includes a water reservoir into which water is supplied. The water is then chilled to form ice pieces. The ice pieces or cubes, are then moved to a storage bin where they are held until the user accesses ice from the refrigerators through an ice dispenser typically mounted through the door of the refrigerator.
When a user obtains ice through the ice dispenser in the door of the refrigerator, a button is usually pressed which controls the delivery of the ice from the storage bin to the user. Also, this action controls the making of ice in the ice making assembly. When a user requires substantial amounts of ice from the refrigerators, the ice storage bin may not hold sufficient amounts of ice to meet the demands of the user. Accordingly, the user has to wait for the ice making device to make more ice. The time required to make ice is a dependent upon the temperature of water being filled into the ice making reservoir and of the temperature of the cooling air passing over the ice in the of the water reservoir. Currently, it may take as long as 3 hours for the ice maker to form ice pieces for delivery to a user.
Currently, in many ice making assembly, air flow is through the ice making machine above the water reservoir. Consequently, the heat exchange between the air flow and water is limited to the passage of air over the water because the air passes directly out of the ice forming chamber. In this type of ice making assembly, there is a need to improve the cooling or freezing efficiency of the ice maker without increasing the energy consumed by it the ice maker.